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Retired Vernon official collects a $500K pension–while under indictment
May 8th, 2009, 10:30 am · 43 Comments · posted by Tony Saavedra, Register investigative reporter
Bruce Malkenhorst Sr. makes no apologies for collecting the highest municipal pension in California – $499,674 a year.
But then, Malkenhorst, 74, of Huntington Beach, also doesn’t apologize for charging taxpayers in the city of Vernon for the occasional massage. “If I had a bad back and got a massage, I got a massage,” he said, stressing that the city council approved the expenses.
Los Angeles County prosecutors disagree, and indicted him in 2006 on charges of embezzling $60,000 for massages and other personal expenses. The case is pending.
“People always take shots at people who are successful,” snorted Malkenhorst.
For three decades Malkenhorst was Vernon’s city manager, finance director, redevelopment director, city clerk, city treasurer and head of the municipal light and power operation– all at the same time.
At $600,000 a year, he was the highest paid municipal worker in the state, according to this article in Forbes Magazine.
As a retiree, Malkenhorst tops the list of state Public Employees Retirement System pensioners making more than $100,000 a year. Included in the top 20 are a former Anaheim city manager who now heads another municipality as well as a police chief and a fire chief from Newport Beach.
(Just in case this is not clear, The Watchdog notes that these are taxpayer-funded pensions.)
Malkenhorst, who virtually ran the 5.5 –square-mile industrial haven, with three-decade Mayor Leonis C. Malburg, complained that no one attacks the high pensions of the college neuroscience researchers on the list.
“I should have been a brain surgeon, then no one would question it,” Malkenhorst said.
Pension reform advocates say the public is on the hook for the high pensions, most of which were granted to upper management in cities and counties as well as police and fire workers.
“Their counterparts in the private sector don’t get these guaranteed retirements,” said pension watchdog Marcia Fritz. As the economy spirals, it is the taxpayer who must make up the losses in the pension funds.
Fritz and her colleagues at the California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility have posted at pensiontsunami a list of every retiree in the CalPERS system who is collecting more than $100,000 a year–4,817 in all.
“We have to change the benefits, scale them back,” Fritz argues.
The Watchdog will be keeping a sharp eye on public pensions. Come back here next week to find out how other Orange County retirees made it into the $200,000 club.
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$100K per year is chump change for someone who is just indicted. We are paying $200K for Carona while he spending the next five years in jail.
BTW, my employer doesn’t pay for my massages, they are excluded.
ha! have these trough feeders have no shame? this guy was a flunky city manager for a 1 star city and through his shrewd and clever dealings was able to finangle a $500k annual pension from the taxpayers! ha! and you say our compensation system for government workers is not out of control? if so, someone needs to pour a glass of ice-cold water over your head to wake you up! Now we find that DESPITE making huge amounts of money off the taxpayer that he was charging personal massages while on-duty to the government coffers! NO WONDER OUR SYSTEM IS TEETERING ON THE EDGE OF DISASTER! WHERE THE HECK ARE THE INTERNAL CONTROL FOR GAWD SAKES??? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR ENTIRE MORAL COMPASS IN THOSE FAR REACHING AND POMPOUS POSITIONS OF GOVERMENT?
No more be said–this is the truth, sadly. How can we get responsible citizens to vote into office only people with a moral compass? That is the dilemma for this generation or we will have no country to live in.
somethings wrong with this world.
He NEVER would have been admitted to medical school! He’s a loser!
this guy is an extreme example– most city workers don’t rip off the system like this — no way—
Most city employees enjoy benefits that have been long removed from the private sector. That is why they hire a large amount of non-employee contractors - to protect the benefits of the existing union employees.
tim hardoway, there are over 5000 retired county and state government workers pulling down defined pensions of > than $100000. Don’t tell me your system isn’t broken. CALPERS is only about 50% funded and teetering on bankruptcy. Basically, its a big ponzi scheme. Lost over $80 billion in value last year. You folks are in big trouble. Better wise up. Greed destroys. Don’t ever forget that.
ocobserver: Don’t forget, Calpers pensions are guaranteed by the taxpayers. How the hell did that ever happen.
WOW, if he is 74, he has certainly been spending a lot of cash on plastic surgery!
I would like to know how he performed all the jobs that he is receiving a pension for at the same time. There is only so many hours in a day and some of that time was spent getting massages.
have you ever been to vernon? not much to take care of.
The city of vernon has no houses..only a couple of apartment buildings..and guess who owns them…yep city officials and the mayor…who was arrested for voting fraud…because to be a city official. you need to live in the city..And he did not. An Industrial city, home of some of the most lucrative business…and population of 175, who live in lower income housing, mostly immigrants who were coerced to sell their votes? The place is a racket…and should be annexed by the county.
CALPERS is gonig under. it is the biggest mess ever, because of idiots that promised to give away too much money.
That loser doesn’t deserve jack. Kick him to the curb!
As far as I know, the county and possibly state employees have a different retirement system than your typical 401K private employee. I guess the main issue is how much public money is part of their retirement benefit as opposed to how much of their own money accounts for it, when compared private sector employees. If you’re gonna make juddgements, ocobserver, I suggest you go do that math first.
How much does (Moorlack) get for only working a few years on the BOS? OCERS is 6-BILLION strong! Go on the OCERS site and take notes (for all the (private investors.)
FYI: OCERS is privately funded, county workers have a HUGE portion of their checks go into it. The county does not pay into OCERS.
Cliff:
That is not correct. Each county employee pays a portion of their income, into the pension fund, and the county does the same. Most of the pension checks paid out are from investments, by ocers.
If anybody at all cares to learn the TRUTH about CALPERS, read this:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=MAC20090223&articleId=12419
Now if that doesn’t signify a system out of control, I’m ralph the wonder dog!
thats bs. My profit sharing went down 49% last year and it’s down another 15-17% this year. I wish my money was “protected by law” also. Then again, I work in the real world.
hunter83, if you bothered to do your homework you would know that the percentage of employee contributions versus public funds contributed to retirement payouts (especially for public safety officials) is very, very small. Think about it. Somebody who retires at 50 or 55 has about 30 years of life ahead of him/her. OVER 5000 of them are collecting annual pensions of OVER $100k. So YOU do the math. So of that $3 million payout, how much do you think the employee contributed during the course of his employment? And now that the market has tanked we know he’s not making return on his investment. You do the math? The fact is the government pension plans VIOLATE all the rules of exponential math. And you can fool mother math. She calls all bets!
I did a spreadsheet on the combination of retirement benefits. It shows the average 3 at 55 employee makes more in retirement than he/she made while he/she was working for us.
sorry. wrong link. here are the FACTS about CALPERS:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12114
You’re wrong. Some how, some way, the CA government convinced the US federal system that CA government employees don’t have to contribute to a federal “insurance” system.
Boo hoo, boo hoo, working past the age of 55 is such torture for CA government employees. When the rest of us CA employees will be paying for your retirement into our late 60’s or longer.
The current system is unsustainable and it’s only a matter of time before the promised benefits can not be paid out. This is no different than social security or any other Ponzi scheme.
The day of reckoning is coming VERY SOON. The system is beyond broken and needs a complete overhaul. This is no different than the US automakers…decades of bad management and giving in to union demands will only go so far.
VOTE NO ON PROPS 1A-1F.
alterego, basically you live in a 2-class society. The trough feeders are on a perch above your own. They look down upon you as if you are a serf. A peasant who owes them a living. They get higher salaries (for the same skill set), better benefits (smorgusboard of health options), lavish defined pensions while you struggle with your piddly 401-k (or now 201-k) and, naturally, they have bullet proof job security while you can be booted out the door by the employer who doesn’t even have to give you a reason why. This is what it has evolved into. Welcome to the new America.
ocobserver: I’m independently self-employed and ok even though I pay $1,000 per month for health insurance, and another $500 for long term care insurance. However, it is for my family and friends I fear. My youngest daughter graduates from college a week from Saturday. My oldest daughter graduated last May. Both have biology degrees with 3.0+ averages. My oldest is still looking for a job and my youngest started looking 6 mos. ago. Neither has any prospects yet, and this d*ckhead says “I should have been a brain surgeon”. Lets roast him on hot coals.
Maybe public outcry needs to be stepped up.
Look who we are paying for!
Weasels like him and Carona,
lowlife Octo person
AND believe me the schools’ administrative rosters have scam artists from the past.. double dipping, from community colleges that I know of.
Maybe the salaries attract more devious types. I have a feeling that true civic minded people would still apply for and run for office for fewer dollars. I think we should try it.
Yes. BTW, I’m self employed and get no entitlements whatsoever. The average cost of rtirement to the government employee is $2 million. The average cost of the private sector employee is $40K.
Another dedicated public servant - government employee exemplifying the high standrards of government employees. Aren’t those Public Employee Unions great … dedicated public servants and Union members they really have the California voters and taxpayers interest at the forefront of concerns. Go Unions … GM, Chrysler, State of California, Federal Gov’t, what a job they are doing!
Every level of government needs to file bankruptcy and renegotiate these criminal contracts immdeiately. The government sector is simply robbing the private sector blind.
The people are going to be saddled with legacy costs like this as our state goes down. Makes sense to work for the government when it’s corrupt. Puts police, firefighters, teachers, etc.. in a bad light when they don’t desrve it. It’s time people, it’s time… illegal immigrants, legacy costs, government contracts are a joke, so much waste and overspending. Vote and throw the bastards out of office.
Angelhopeful says:
May 8, 2009 at 11:32 am
He NEVER would have been admitted to medical school! He’s a loser!
===============================
Cops and FFs say the same thing-they could have made so mjuch MORE in the privatse sector, like real etsate, computer/internet….you name it.
As if any of those clowns skipped inventing Google for a FF job
Johnny,
Where you been? You still bashing the very people who protect your sorry life? Remember don’t call the clowns in the Firehouse when you need them, or those poor GED LE Oficers when your life is threatened.
This guy is a perfect example of what abuse of a retierment system is. If I had my way he would be cut off. 500k is a rediculous amount, and he shows no remorse for his actions. Maybe he should room with Carona?
LEt’s remember to stay on topic here. This clown is an embarassment but I take exception to being lumped in with a group of people that I despise for abusing their positions.
Take it easy on those of us who are doing the right thing. We are not the problem and Public/Government workers are not the only ones who pull this crud…remember Enron, AIG or any of those other PRIVATE Corp’s that screwed their employees?
I am sure he did not get those “massages” in Vernon. The city is a smelly pit. I used to have a client there and I would always make our appointments in the morning so I could escape in broad daylight.
This man needs to be ratted out. I am sure there is more that will arise soon.
” I should have been a brain surgeon”. Um yeh, Stanford didn’t accept me, so I decided to become the city manager of Vernon.
As people scrape to pay for health insurance this bottom feeder receives $500K a year? Unbelievable.
Were there any “happy endings” involved with the public funds which paid for these massages?
Quoting …”Their counterparts in the private sector don’t get these guaranteed retirements,” said pension watchdog Marcia Fritz. As the economy spirals, it is the taxpayer who must make up the losses in the pension funds.”
Please ………. Its NOT JUST that Private Sector does not get these anymore, its the RICHNESS of the benefits that’s so absurd … at TAXPAYER’S expense. His pension is just about 100% of his final salary. Pensions in the Private Sector NEVER EVER pay anywhere near this… even if you work 50 years. Private Sector pensions RARELY EVER pay more than 40% of final salary. Hence a full-career Private Sector worker would have to have a final salary of roughly $500,000/0.40=$1,250,000 to get a pension of $500,000 annually. But wait, it’s still worst. You see Public, but NOT Private Sector pensions get annual COLAS. Assuming only modest inflation, a COLA typically adds 50-100% to the cost of a (non-COLA) pension, Hence the $500,000 COLA-adjusted pension is equivalent to roughly a $750,000 non-COLA pension ….. for which a Private Sector worker (with the typical non-COLA pension) would have to earn $750,000/0.40=$1,875,000 to get.
Now WHY in the world should Taxpayers fund (the vast majority) of a Civil Servant’s pension equivalent to someone in Private industry that makes almost $2,000,000 !
Keep in mind (although not with such extreme dollar payouts) ALL Civil Servant’s pensions have a similar relationship to Private Sector pensions.
Private Sector workers need to vehimently protest this structure….. Pensions of Civil Servants should NOT exceed that average pensions of similarly paid Private Sector workers.
BENEFIT REDUCTIONS are needed for CURRENT, not just New employees.
Quoting …For three decades Malkenhorst was Vernon’s city manager, finance director, redevelopment director, city clerk, city treasurer and head of the municipal light and power operation– all at the same time.”
I’ve seen this “multiple job title” scam elsewhere in the Public Sector.
The WELL CONNECTED Civil Servant takes on multiple job titles and get full pay FO EACH OF THEM …. as though each was a full time job. This crap could ON:LY happen in the Public Sector ……. None of those six positions needed a full time worker. Each should have been a part time position with the total adding up to ONE job …. with the appropriate pay for ONE job.
Where was the criminal justice system while all of this was going on ….. sound criminal to me.
“I should have been a brain surgeon, then no one would question it,” Malkenhorst said.
Arguably, you made more than a brain surgeon for doing a hell of alot less. Somehow, I think Malkenhorst knows that!
alterego55 says:
“May 8, 2009 at 2:12 pmYes. BTW, I’m self employed and get no entitlements whatsoever. The average cost of rtirement to the government employee is $2 million. The average cost of the private sector employee is $40K.’
Your forgetting one thing. The private sector employee is forced to manage his own retirement through a 401k or other investment options. He’s basically reponsible for his own retirement, at no additional cost to the tax paying citizen.
The public sector employee has his guaranteed, lifetime pension( as this case demonstrates) funded through you, the tax paying citizen!
Big difference. No?
Although this guy is the topic of the article, extending into all public sector benefits is an expected link. The retirement formulas are simply too generous. The standard for firefighters and police officers is 3% at 50. The basic problems are (1) they don’t retire at 50, rather stay on in desk jobs or easiest station assignments to maximize the benefit to at or very close to 100% of last salary and (2) public employee unions are too powerful and get sweet deals from politicians for their support. Non-safety government employees stay longer, too, with their 2% - 2.7% at 55 formula. All of these formulas need to be significantly reduced so as to not gouge the public with higher taxes and/or automatically retire these people out at the formula’s retirement age. I thought these jobs were for public service, not glorified lifetime welfare. Send them to the private sector if they want to continue working.
When a Black person steals or kills everyone screams about the lawlessness of Black people. When Mexicans kill each other in Santa Ana OC-readers are quick to criticize Mexicans as a whole. White people are stealing billions and billions (sometimes $500,000 at a time) and no similar racist outrage.
If he were a Black man, I’d bet there would be considerable more outrage.
So what is the problem??? According to the story, this man was the city manager, finance director, redevelopment director, city clerk, city treasurer and head of the municipal light and power operation. If my math is correct he filled all 6 positions all at the same time. Think of the money savings this was the City of Vernon. They only have one person to pay a pension to versus 6 AND they don’t have all the headaches associated with all of the other possible employees. Yet another alarmist non-story by a self-appointed watch dog group. I think we have had enough of the crying wolf.
Tony R, You’re thick as SH__. Those 6 jobs only required 1-2 hours work per day, or he couldn’t have done the work. ALL of these should have created ONE job …. perhaps well paying, but ONE job with ONE salary, not 6 salaries added together.
This crap could ONLY happen in the PUBLIC sector. Private Sector employers are not than stupid.